02 August 2016

This Seems Fine

If you watch the Olympics (i.e., if you don't get cable or satellite TV or are a woman), you might be interested in these Olympics. In addition to the usual, nauseating NBC backstories of the athletes (little Tabitha overcame the loss of her pet cat, Mittens, in order to train for Rio!), you now might get to see actual, physical nausea play out among the participants.Yes, those are actually waves of garbage in the bay where the triathalon and other marathon swimming events will be held. And below (WARNING: grisly images), you see a floating corpse in one shot, and a severed arm floating in some type of waste water near the rowing and other boating competitions. From the linked story above:Just days ahead of the Olympic Games the waterways of Rio de
Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with
dangerous viruses and bacteria, according to a 16-month-long study.Rubbish is so thick in some areas that water is not visible
and rats are able to live on top of the disgusting floating debris.Not only are some 1,400 athletes at risk of getting
violently ill in water competitions, but the tests indicate that tourists also
face potentially serious health risks on the golden beaches of Ipanema and
Copacabana.The survey of the aquatic Olympic and Paralympic venues has
revealed consistent and dangerously high levels of viruses from the pollution,
a major black eye on Rio's Olympic project that has set off alarm bells among
sailors, rowers and open-water swimmers.The first results of the study published over a year ago
showed viral levels at up to 1.7 million times what would be considered
worrisome in the United States or Europe.At those concentrations, swimmers and athletes who ingest
just three teaspoons of water are almost certain to be infected with viruses
that can cause stomach and respiratory illnesses and more rarely heart and
brain inflammation - although whether they actually fall ill depends on a
series of factors including the strength of the individual's immune system.Who knew that a corrupt cabal's decision to put on a bloated, one-worlder, athletics-related "siblinghood" event in a third world country could go wrong?

Ah, raw capitalism at its best. Corporations have little if any government oversight. The rich live in gated mansions and the poor - they're on their own to provide food, clothing, housing, water and sanitation. The rich will get richer from these Olympics, and the thought that some of the wealth might trickle down to work on Brazil's infrastructure obviously hasn't happened. It is far more important that taxes on corporations and the .1% remain extremely low because they are, cough, "job creators." The spirit of the Olympics I hope/pray remains on fire in helping us all be aware that we have far more similarities as a human race than differences, and that we all are God's creations born with His soul within. Go4God'sGold

A Day That Will Live in Glory

Pray for the Four Cardinals: Burke, Caffarra, Meiser and Brandmuller

“You are the ones who are happy; you who remain within the Church by your Faith, who hold firmly to the foundations of the Faith which has come down to you from Apostolic Tradition. And if an execrable jealousy has tried to shake it on a number of occasions, it has not succeeded. They are the ones who have broken away from it in the present crisis. No one, ever, will prevail against your Faith, beloved Brothers. And we believe that God will give us our churches back some day."